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Pak, POTO, Afghan, Ayodhya to dominate BJP`s Amritsar meet
The two-day national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party begins in Amritsar on Friday with a heavy agenda on its hands, including the loss of civilian lives in the continued bombing of Afghanistan, the war of words by Pakistan, the Opposition to thePrevention Of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) and the Ayodhya issue.
The two-day national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party begins in Amritsar on Friday with a heavy agenda on its hands, including the loss of civilian lives in the continued bombing of Afghanistan, the war of words by Pakistan, the Opposition to the
Prevention Of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) and the Ayodhya issue.
The meeting to be attended by the top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose previous appearance at a party meeting was marred by controversy, will have to draw a line between the killings of innocent Afghani men, women and children and the need to harden the fight against international terrorism in the context of the terror export in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Vajpayee`s letter to the heads of states of 12 countries on the Afghan situation will come up for discussion at the conclave.
But a host of important domestic issues would seize the attention of the highest decision-making body of the BJP. The party will be called upon to find a strategy on the Ayodhya issue in the wake of the storming of the make-shift temple by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders.
With the winter session of Parliament less than three weeks away, the VHP`s threat to go ahead with the temple construction and the Union government`s resolve to maintain status quo till it was decided by the supreme court will come up for discussion as the party will have to clarify its stand before the crucial elections in Uttar Pradesh on which the survival of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre depends. The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttaranchal also are to take a considerable amount of the national executive which will discuss among other issues the farmers` issue, the Rajya Sabha domiciliary issue and the report of Shekhawat Committee on agriculture reforms. The party strategy on POTO, which was described by Congress president Sonia Gandhi as ``tantamount to the Constitution``, also will come up for discussion.
All these issues will be part of the political resolution the conclave would adopt at its meeting. As the venue of the conclave is Amritsar and assembly election is due in Punjab in February-March next year, the executive would like to send the right signals to the farmers by discussing the Shekhawat Committee report on agriculture. The committee has given suggestions to improve the lot of the farmers who were badly affected by the implications of the World Trade Organisation agenda.
Bureau Report
The meeting to be attended by the top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose previous appearance at a party meeting was marred by controversy, will have to draw a line between the killings of innocent Afghani men, women and children and the need to harden the fight against international terrorism in the context of the terror export in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Vajpayee`s letter to the heads of states of 12 countries on the Afghan situation will come up for discussion at the conclave.
But a host of important domestic issues would seize the attention of the highest decision-making body of the BJP. The party will be called upon to find a strategy on the Ayodhya issue in the wake of the storming of the make-shift temple by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders.
With the winter session of Parliament less than three weeks away, the VHP`s threat to go ahead with the temple construction and the Union government`s resolve to maintain status quo till it was decided by the supreme court will come up for discussion as the party will have to clarify its stand before the crucial elections in Uttar Pradesh on which the survival of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre depends. The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttaranchal also are to take a considerable amount of the national executive which will discuss among other issues the farmers` issue, the Rajya Sabha domiciliary issue and the report of Shekhawat Committee on agriculture reforms. The party strategy on POTO, which was described by Congress president Sonia Gandhi as ``tantamount to the Constitution``, also will come up for discussion.
All these issues will be part of the political resolution the conclave would adopt at its meeting. As the venue of the conclave is Amritsar and assembly election is due in Punjab in February-March next year, the executive would like to send the right signals to the farmers by discussing the Shekhawat Committee report on agriculture. The committee has given suggestions to improve the lot of the farmers who were badly affected by the implications of the World Trade Organisation agenda.
Bureau Report